Scalpel



Patented Sept. 1, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SCALPEL George A. Montelius, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application June 6, 1947, Serial No. 752,877

1 Claim.

ing on the operators hand between the thumb and index finger, as a fulcrum, will be in a balanced position and if turned 'angularly out of this plane, will return to normal position when released, due to the fact that the preponderance of weight of the scalpel is below a line extending between the cutting area of the knife and the fulcrum area of the handle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a scalpel in which the cutting area of its blade, the fulcrum area of its handle and the forceapplying area of the handle are all on the longitudinal axis of the scalpel.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel means for detachably securing the blade of a scalpel to its handle.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a scalpel handle with a novel arrangement of seats to which cutting force is applied to the scalpel by the operators hand holding the scalpel.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of one form of the improved scalpel;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view showing the opposite side of the scalpel from that shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the scalpel, as shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the scalpel blade and handle segregated;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the scalpel blade, as shown in Fig. 4, and a sectional view of the handle taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in elevation and partly in section taken on the line X-X of Fig. l, on an enlarged scale, and

Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views in section taken on the lines 1-! and 8-8 of Fig. 6, respectively.

Referring now in detail to the scalpel A shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive, wherein the blade l6 has a straight back that is relatively thick, in respect to the blade proper, which is thin and of substantially a constant thickness both transversely and longitudinally. The thick back of 2 the blade I6 is contracted and merges with the blade proper to give rigidity thereto. The inner end portion of the blade I6 is materially wider than the blade proper and extends beyond the cutting edge of said blade.

Integral with the blade H5, at one side thereof, is a wide flat shank [1 that extends longitudinally inwardly and has beveled longitudinal edge portions l8 for dovetail interlocking engagement with a handle [9, as will presently appear. The inner end portion of the shank H, at its inner face, is reduced in thickness to afford a spring catch 20 having therein a transverse hole 2|.

The handle [9 of the scalpel A is fiat with rounded longitudinal edges, the top and under side thereof converging outwardly. The terms top and under side have reference to the scalpel A as shown in Fig. 1. The outer end portion of the handle I9 is curved downwardly and the under side of this curved section of said handle aifords a fulcrum area 22.

Formed in the same side of the handle I9, as the shank I1, is a channel 23, see Fig. 4, for said shank and a channel 24 for the spring catch 20 and which channel 24 is a continuation of the channel 23. The channel 23 is deeper than the channel 24 and thus forms a stop shoulder 25 for the shank I! at its outer end. The sides of the channel 23 are inclined for dovetail interlocking engagement with the shank H, see Fig. 7.

On the bottom of the channel 24, at the transverse center thereof, is an upstanding lock-stud 26, the outer end of which is beveled, see Fig. 6.

To attach the blade [6 to the handle I9, the

, shank l1 and the spring catch 20 are inserted endwise into the channels 23 and 24, respectively. duringthis attachment of the blade IE to the handle ill, the spring catch 20 engages the beveled end of the lock-stud 26, is sprung upwardly thereby and rides on said lock-stud until the hole 2| is brought into registration with the lock-stud 26. The registration of the hole 2| with the lock-stud 26 releases the tensioned spring catch 20 which snaps closed, projects the lock-stud 26 through the hole 2| and releasably attaches the blade IE to the handle IS.

The backs of the blade l6 and the handle l9 have oblique abutting engagement, as indicated at 27, in which the latter overlaps the former and affords a stop for the blade l6 when under cutting pressure to relieve undue strain on the shank l1.

Formed in the same side of the handle IS with the channels 23 and 24 is a long depression that extends longitudinally of the handle 19 and affords a seat 28 for the operator's thumb. This seat 28 extends under the free end portion of the spring catch 20 to afford clearance for the operators thumb nail or a suitable instrument, to lift the spring catch 20 out of engagement with the lock-stud 26 and release the same. The seat 28, at its outer end, terminates in a secondary seat 29 that extends transversely in the handle 19. Theseseats. Hand 29 permit the. operator to gripthe handle ifiqat different longitudinally spaced points to facilitate the insertion of the blade Is to difierent depths.

In the opposite side of the handle [9 from shank I! and directly opposite the spring catch 20 is an upper seat 3|] and a lower seat 3|. Each of these seats 30 and 31 is in th 'form of a depression. The seat 30 is for theroperatorspim dex finger and the seat 3| is for his long or socalled third finger. These seats 30 and 3| afford a force-bearing area 32 on the handle 19.

The cutting area of the blade' lfi, the transverse center'of the force-bearing area 32 and the fulcrum area-22 are all on a longitudinal axis, as indicated by the -line a:-.'n drawn on Fig, 1.

.From the above description, it is evident that a used'blade [6 may be very quickly and easily removed from the handle l9 and a sharp blade l6 substituted therefor.

The balanced construction of the scalpel A z and the alignment of the cutting area of the blade, the center of the force-applying area and the fulcrum area on the major axis of the scalpel A are highly important to the efficient handling arrangement within the scope of the invention herein disclosed and claimed.

What I claim is:

In an instrument of the class described, a handle having in one of its sides a longitudinally extended channel that includes an outer section and an inner section, the former being relatively deep and the latter being relatively shallow, a blade. having a longshankslidably extended endwise into the channel .and including an inner section and an outer section, the

vformer being relatively thick and fitted in the deep section of the channel and the latter being relatively thin and fitted in the shallow section of the channel, the thick section of th shank References Cited in the file-of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 67,904 -,Schmidt July 28,1925 B. 136,445 .Gerber 0ct.'5, 1943 308,753 .Cox Dec..2, 1.884 813,009 Kny Feb.;20,.1906 1,563,674 Stuart Dec.-1, 1925 .1,869,586 :Seaholm Aug. .12, 1932 12,421,339 Leger May..27, 1947 "FOREIGN PATEN TS Number Country Date 39,687 Denmark Dec. 2'7, 1928 

